Tuesday February 11, 2025
SF Gate —
Four Bay Area environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Monday, alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Secretary of the U.S, Department of the Interior failed to deliver a legally required initial determination as to whether San Francisco Bay’s population of white sturgeon should be listed as a threatened species.
San Francisco Baykeeper, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Restore the Delta, and Friends of the River joined forces to file legal action against the new administration regarding the Endangered Species Act.
The groups said the suit will be an early indicator of how this administration will act — or fail to act — to protect the bay’s fish and wildlife.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service is required to respond to petitions to list species under the ESA within one year, and that deadline is past,” said Eric Buescher, San Francisco Baykeeper’s managing attorney. “The Trump administration’s executive orders can’t change that reality or circumvent basic requirements of the law.”